Lost
by hopper18
Summary: Merlin was dragged to the future without any memories. Will he be able to change his destiny, not even knowing who he was?
1. Chapter 1

**I don't own Merlin or HP.**

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To say that Merlin was horrified would be a huge understatement.

The warlock was currently standing stock-still in the castle front yard, watching as another one of his decisions went and blew up at his face. They had just returned from their quest to seek out the Disir, a quest on which Merlin was forced to go against his belief and everything he had ever worked for, just to keep Arthur safe. But again he had made the wrong choice, and the very result was staring at him in the face.

Mordred. He was alive.

Merlin felt anger surging at those women for their cryptic words and misleading choices. More than that, he was angry at himself for failing to understanding them. His first thought had been that if the ban on magic wasn't lifted, Mordred would die and the prophecy would be prevented from happening. He had struggled to abandon his guilt at letting another man die as well as his pain at missing what could very well be his only chance at freeing magic, all to ensure that Arthur would live. However, he was wrong. The consequence that the Disir mentioned had been Mordred's survival all along. And he might have just played a hand in Arthur's demise.

No, He couldn't, and wouldn't stand to let that happen. He just had to find a way around it. That was why, as soon as the night came, the warlock sneaked out of Gaius's chamber, led his horse out of the stable and headed for the cave with only one purpose in his mind. He rode through the forest without stopping, only skidding to a halt when he felt the familiar energy filled the air. This was it. He dismounted and stomped into the Disir' place, ignoring that he was intruding a holy ground without permission. No one was inside. Merlin shouted.

"COME OUT! I KNOW YOU ARE THERE!"

Silence.

Merlin settled on his magic instead, letting it rise to the surface and released a burst of power. The ground trembled violently and the various charms that were hanging from the ceiling were ripped out by the wind and strewn all over the floor. He was closing his eyes, ready to tear this place apart if he needed to when…

"Emrys…"

Merlin spun around. The three women were there, seemingly unconcerned with the havoc he had just wreaked. They just stared at him with expressionless faces that were half obscured by the cloak.

"You didn't say he would survive." Merlin demanded

"We warned you, Emrys. You and the King. And neither of you listened."

"How was I SUPPOSED to know that THIS would happen?"

"We told you clearly that refusing magic would lead to the King's doom, didn't we?" said the Disir.

"There must be a way to avoid this." Merlin said with a desperate voice.

"You want another chance, Emrys?" one of the women asked.

"Yes! Please, I'll do anything." Merlin pleaded.

"The decision doesn't lie with us, Emrys. We merely see, not intervene. That is simply the ways thing are. What happens from now on depends on you. But if you are determined…"

The women in the middle pulled out something and held it in her palm. It was a crystal orb that was emitting a faint glow. From where he was standing, Merlin could feel the power emanating from the object.

"This is an artifact from the ancient time, said to hold the ability to alter fate itself. If you truly wish to change yours, then take it. However, beware. Not even we know what would happen once you get hold of this. And it won't guarantee that you have your desired ending. Make a careful choice, Emrys, for it could change thing for the worst."

Merlin gulped. What if he was wrong again? But if thing kept going the way they were, then certainly his vision, the one about Arthur's death, would come true.

"I'm willing to take that risk." He said with determination and reached out for the crystal orb. The moment his hand touched it, Merlin felt a wave of ancient and powerful magic engulfed him. Everything became white in front of his eyes. He felt the artifact power washed over him and knew no more.

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**I only write this fic for fun, so sorry if it doesn't make any sense. Oh, and I'm not English, so please forgive any grammar mistakes.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks everyone who read, reviewed, favorited and followed this story.**

**And special thank to FlyingLovegood123, who beta-ed this chapter.  
**

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The first thing he saw when he opened his eyes was the gloomy, cloudy sky.

It took him a few moments to come to his sense. He was lying flat on his back on the ground, which was covered in grass. His head hurt badly, like what one usually experienced when having a hangover, and the pain was draining him of his strength. There was a feeling of weakness that spread to his limbs, preventing him from moving, as well as an irritating buzzing sound in his ear.

…drip…

Something wet dropped down on his cheek. Water?

…drip…

Small droplets of water were falling on him. They were coming from somewhere above. Oh, rain. Just great. His clothes were quickly soaked through. Well, at least the downpour helped him jerk out of his trance. Regaining the use of his arms, he pushed them against the slippery grass and lifted himself up. The sight that greeted him was unfamiliar, something he had never seen before.

He was sitting in what seemed like a small garden. To both his right side and left, there were a lot of houses in a line that stretches beyond his vision. Houses made of bricks, painted in different colors with glass windows. They looked strange somehow. What was odd, he didn't know, he just had a feeling that things had to be different.

Different? Like what? He asked himself, receiving no answer. He took a few deep breaths and started assessing his situation. He seemed to be in quite a predicament here. Why was he here? How did he get here? As his thought reached those lines, he suddenly gasped, feeling an icy dread gripping his heart.

He didn't remember.

Only now did he realize that his memory was like a blank slate. There was nothing in it. No familiar faces, no images of where he lived…nothing. Not even his name.

Who was he?

He struggled to get on his feet with difficulties. His shirt sleeves, which had some how become twice as long as his arms were tangling him. The clothes he was wearing were apparently too big for his size, and the fact that the rain water made them stick to him uncomfortably did nothing to help the matter. He broke into a run. When you were all alone in a foreign place, you tend to panic quickly. Especially for him, who now didn't even have his identity to cling onto. He tripped time and time again, but he didn't stop. All he wanted to do was to get out of this nightmare and wake up in somewhere that made sense. But he didn't know where that was. What exactly happened to him? He felt really, really scared.

So, he kept on running. He didn't notice that the glass windows on the houses he ran past smashed like they were hit by something hard, or that everything lying in his path was flung to the side without anything touching them, or even the way streetlights above his head exploded into tiny little bits.

* * *

Dumbledore was sitting in his office, shifting through the heap of paperwork that needed sorting out in preparation for the new school year. The procedure was the same as it had always been, but this year, Hogwart was going to receive someone special: Harry Potter. The headmaster was well aware of the hardship the poor boy had gone through at the muggle house he had been living in until now, and he certainly deserved better treatment. However, he had to be watched over carefully. For someone too young, exceed fame guaranteed nothing good. And there is also the matter of the Sorcerer Stone. Dumbledore had promised Nicholas that he would keep it safe, but figuring out where to hide it was proving to be a problem. With Voldermort likely on the move, he had to take care of this matter properly.

He was interrupted from his work five minutes later by professor McGonagall. A delivery owl perched on her shoulder, a letter tied to its right leg. From the look of it, it seemed like the sender was from the Ministry. Dumbledore frowned. What business could the Ministry of Magic have with him?

"Professor Dumbledore, you have a letter." announced the Transfiguration teacher.

"Thank you, Minerva. Just leave it here."

Dumbledore took the letter and waited for the other person to exit the room. He opened the envelope.

_Dear Professor Dumbledore_

_We are writing this to inform you that the Ministry of Magic had just detected an unknown source of underage sorcery. Normally this falls into our area of duty, but due to an unexpected lack of record and information, we require your help in investigating the matter as well as making arrangement. The location is as follow…._

Dumbledore folded the letter, feeling a little puzzled. Unknown source of underage sorcery? The Ministry had always kept a thorough record of all children that possessed magic since they displayed the first signs. And it was quite rare for Fudge to ask him a favor like this, the man liked to keep his job to himself. But at any rate, it wouldn't do any harm to check this out.

* * *

The headmaster arrived at his destination in less than five minutes later. It was raining hard, and as far as he can see, there were no people on the street. As for magic, however, there were clear evidences that it had been used. It was quite a sight, really. The whole place looked like it was swept over by a small hurricane. Shattered glass was glittering on the walkway and the house owners were observing the damage done to their property, not knowing exactly how it happened. Incidents that involved underage sorcery were usually something small that resulted from instinctual magic, but for it to be powerful to this extent seemed slightly ridiculous. Dumbledore followed the trace, which led him quite a long way to a dark corner of the street where, if looked closely, strong gust of wind occasionally blew up, scattering paper and leaves. He approached it carefully, his wand drawn. It was hard to make out in the rain, but he could see a small figure hidden in the shadow.

"Lumos."

The tip of his wand flared up, casting an illuminating light over the dark shape, which was revealed to be a small boy. He had dark hair and he was sitting huddled with his back against the wall. Since he was putting his head between his knees, Dumbledore couldn't see his face, but the boy was no older than twelve and was dressed in what seemed like adult clothes. One thing Dumbledore was sure of that this boy was very scared. Startled by the sudden light, he looked up and spotted the stranger who was closing in on him and Dumbledore found himself being nearly swept off his feet. Steadying himself, the headmaster saw that the boy was eyeing him warily.

"Who…who are you?" he asked Dumbledore in a small, shaky voice.

Bringing his hand out in a reassuring stance, Dumbledore tried to calm the boy.

"I'm not going to hurt you."

"Do you know me?" the sentence sounded desperate.

"No, I don't believe so. But…" Dumbledore tried to take a step closer but was immediately pushed back by an invisible force.

"Where is this place? Where am I? WHO AM I?"

The boy looked to be on the verge of tear, and Dumbledore finally knew the problem. This boy had lost his memories, that was why he was panicking and his magic was spiraling out of control.

"I don't know." The headmaster made another attempt to soothe the distressed boy "But I can help you."

"How?"

"I can help you with your magic first. Then we can figure something out."

The boy looked at his hand. He wore an expression like he had just realized something important. Then he said slowly.

"I…have magic…"

"That's right." Dumbledore tried to get closer again, this time successful. He placed a hand on the boy's shoulder "Come on, let's get you out of here."

The small figure finally stood up. He looked at the headmaster in the face and asked

"Who are you?"

"You can call me professor Dumbledore."

"Pro..fess..or…Dum…ble…dore…" the boy repeated.

"Good. What about you? Do you remember your name?"

The boy shook his head.

"I see. We'll need something to call you though. Let's see…" Dumbledore frowned "How about…Edward Thompson? Is that okay with you?"

A small nod.

"Then it'll have to do. Follow me."

And with that, Dumbledore took off with his new small companion.


	3. Chapter 3

**Beta-ed by FlyingLovegood.**

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Tom, the wizened landlord of the Leaky Cauldron received quite a surprise when the Headmaster of Hogwarts himself turned up on his doorstep that evening, with a little child in tow no less. Normally, most of the school businesses were taken care of by Hagrid, with whom he was on familiar term. Dumbledore was a likeable and respected man, but for him to appear in these kinds of places was quite rare. However, he decided not to question the unexpected presence and greeted Dumbledore with his usual smile.

"Ah, Headmaster. What can I do for you?"

Dumbledore nodded in greeting.

"Good evening, Tom. Forgive me for disturbing you at this hour, but I was hoping that you could do me a favor and give little Edward here a place to stay for a few days." The Headmaster gestured at the boy who was hiding behind him. Tom looked at Edward curiously. The child had messy dark hair, pale skin and his particularly large ears stuck out comically. He was really scrawny, a fact that was heavily accentuated by the oversized clothes, which made Tom wondered whether he had been malnourished. The boy was staring at him with deep blue eyes. From the look on his face, it seemed like he was seizing Tom up and trying to decide whether to trust the landlord or not. Feeling a little uncomfortable under the child's gaze, Tom turned his attention back to Dumbledore.

"Of course. I'll be happy to be of help. How long is he going to stay, headmaster?"

"Less than a week, I suppose. I will send Hagrid here to pick him up."

"I understand." said Tom. Leaving Dumbledore alone with the boy, he went off to prepare a room.

The Headmaster turned to Edward.

"Listen carefully, Edward. I have to go for now. You'll have to stay here for a while, okay? If you need something, talk to Tom."

"You are…leaving?" Edward eyed Dumbledore questioningly, clearly disturbed by the prospect of being left alone again. Sensing the boy's distraught, Dumbledore stooped down so that his face was on the same level as Edward's and looked straight into his eyes.

"Don't worry. I'll have someone pick you up soon." Dumbledore said with his strangely calming voice "Just don't go anywhere too far from here. We'll definitely meet again."

"You promise?" Edward asked, his tone filled with uncertainty.

"I promise."

* * *

Edward observed his new accommodation. It was a nice room that had some highly-polished oak furniture, a large wardrobe as well as a very comfortable looking bed. Edward opened the wardrobe. He needed a change of clothes. Why was he wearing adult clothes in the first place anyway? There was no way of knowing that now. Losing memory was a very irritating feeling, like some parts of you were missing, but you didn't have a clue what they were. He wished he could at least remember his own name. Being called Edward sounded so foreign to his ears. But every time he tried to recall something about himself, he got more and more frustrated as the knowledge slipped away from him just as soon as he pulled it to the surface of his mind. He was stranded here in a world he didn't know anything about. Had he been here before? Or had he always been here? All those questions just keep popping up, and no one could give him the answer. He supposed he should count himself lucky that he met someone who was willing to help. Professor Dumbledore. He was sure that he had never encountered the man before, not that he remembered anything before today, but there was just something about him that made Edward feel like he can trust him. Now that he had been given time to think, he had been able to calm down and look at his situation rationally. But back there; had he been left alone in that state, he wasn't entirely sure what could have happened.

Pondering everything that he had gathered up to this point, there was only one single thing that made sense to him. He had magic. Somehow, he had retained his knowledge about that fact. Magic was natural to him, and he had possessed it all his life. That much he was certain of. But to admit to having it to Dumbledore felt so strange, even though the other man already knew it. He had the distinct feeling that it was something he wasn't supposed to do.

After rummaging through the stack of clothes that was mostly adult-sized, he finally managed to pull out something that looked like it would fit. The clothes he was wearing were dry now, since Dumbledore did something to them, but still, it was hard for him to move in something so large. He had already tripped over the fabric several times. Taking off his shirt, he picked up the new one and flung the old one aside. However, something fell out of it, something circular that hit the ground with a clanking noise and rolled several meters away before Edward managed to grab hold of it. It was a crystal orb that glowed when he touched it and he could feel some sort of power coming from the object. He had no idea what it was, just a vague feeling that this orb was something very important. Perhaps, if he kept it, it might provide some clues as to who exactly he was. Finding a leather pouch along with a few coins attached to the leather belt that went with his old clothes, Edward put the orb into it and placed it under his pillow. Flung himself onto the bed, he realized just how tired he was after all the things that happened today. Well, he would probably have a long time later to think about them. For now, he let himself drifted into a peaceful sleep.


	4. Chapter 4

**Beta:FlyingLovegood123**

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The stay at the Leaky Cauldron had been quite pleasant and uneventful. Dumbledore had stated that he would send someone to get him in less than a week, so Edward figured that he might as well use the free time to discover as much about this world as he could. For some reason, Tom warned him against going to the area that lay beyond the front doors of the Leaky Cauldron without a guide and only allowed him to go to the courtyard, where stood a wall that had a hidden door which would only open once you tapped the right brick. The first time Edward saw this, he wondered at the strange mechanism, though he quickly realized that it was magic in nature as well as was everything behind the door. There were hundreds, probably more, of shops of all kinds in the place that Edward learned was named Diagon Alley.

They were very fascinating, selling various items that ranged in every category you could possibly think of. Herbs, animals, books, clothes…, so many that Edward found it hard to keep track of. Those shop items weren't what Edward would expect to find in a normal market, either. Maybe it was just that he couldn't remember a single thing, but his subconscious mind seemed to have retained some of the common sense of wherever he came from, and it was screaming at him that the sight was wrong. Maybe it was the owls that were being displayed in front of the pet shops among the cats and dogs. Or maybe it was the brooms that were labeled like flying vehicles. Edward just ignored those things, though, because that feeling of being out-of-place had been nagging him constantly ever since he first woke up in that rain. He had come to realize that even though his memories were gone, his body still had some of the habits from his life before, but what it kept doing just didn't make any sense to him at all and certainly wasn't of any help. For example, in the morning, Edward got his breakfast only to carry it around in the corridor searching for a nonexistent destination before he was aware of what he was doing. Then for some reason unknown to him, he found himself cleaning the rooms at the pub and was scrubbing the floor in the pubs without even acknowledging it. And the most irritating part was, these unconscious acts did nothing other than confusing him, making him feel like he was about to recall something, only to be disappointed again and again. So he pushed them to the back of his mind and kept himself preoccupied with exploring the shops instead. He could only window-shop, of course, since although he found some coins in his belonging, they looked nothing like the gold, silver and bronze coins he had seen the people here buy stuff with. As such, he was practically penniless. His room and meals at the Leaky Cauldron were of course paid by Dumbledore, but he had no money for other things. Edward had no problems with that, though. He was contented with just having a place to stay. So he spent four days wandering the Diagon Alley, memorizing the shops. And only on the fifth day did something happen.

* * *

Edward woke up early that morning. Dismissing the tingling sensation that there was something he supposed to do, which he usually felt at this hour, he rolled off the bed and was about to get dressed when Tom poked his head into the room.

"Morning, Ed." The landlord was waving an envelope in his left hand "You have a delivery."

Edward frowned. Who would be sending him a letter? He knew no one here, after all. Or perhaps he did? Nevertheless, he took the envelope. It was yellow and fairly thick, with his name written on it in green ink. Well, his new name. Judging from this, he supposed the letter came from Dumbledore. The man was the one to give him the name Edward in the first place.

"Thanks." He said to Tom.

"No problem. Oh, and Dumbledore sent me words that Hagrid will be here today to pick you up, so you'd better get ready."

"Hagrid?" Edward tilted his head a little in wonder.

"Yeah, and don't worry, you'll know him when you see him. Well, I'd better leave."

Waiting until Tom had left the room; Edward sat back down on his bed and started examining the envelope more closely. There was a purple wax seal on it and he could make out a lion, an eagle, a badger and a snake surrounding a large letter H. He pulled out the content:

HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY

Headmaster: ALBUS DUMBLEDORE

(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)

Dear Mr. Edward,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find an enclosed list of all necessary books and equipments.

Term begin on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31. Yours sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall,

Deputy Headmistress

Edward had to read and reread the letter for several times, yet still not quite digested its meaning. He was right that this letter came from Dumbledore, or at least the place where Dumbledore was, but the others things confused him. He was suddenly being asked to go to a school out of the blue. Moreover, a school of witchcraft and wizardry? Now that just sounded totally far-fetched. _Or maybe not_. Edward reminded himself. He had seen a lot of witches and wizards in Diagon Alley, so why was the idea of a magic school still seemed so strange? All he knew was that just thinking about magic being used in the open felt strangely wrong. There was a list of all the books and equipments in the envelope, some of which for the life of him, he couldn't figure out what they were. But, even if he started giving himself questions now, there would be no answer. He would probably be better off taking Tom's advice and gather his belonging, waiting for this Hagrid to show up. It couldn't really be called packing, seeing that all he possessed was his old clothes and the things that came with them like the pouch and that mysterious orb, so he was done pretty fast. All what left was tidying up his room and waiting for the hours to go by.


	5. Chapter 5

**Thank everyone who read and reviewed.**

**Beta: FlyingLovegood123**

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Edward looked up at the wooden door when he heard footsteps approaching. They sounded a bit too loud for his liking. In fact, the floor was actually vibrating with each step of whomever it was that was walking along the corridor. It had been a while since Tom left the room and Edward knew it couldn't be him, the landlord had never been quite so, well, heavy. But it seemed that the stranger was definitely heading toward the direction of his room. The sound drew in closer and closer until finally, it stopped right at the other side of the door.

BOOM

The large crash almost made Edward jumped out of his skin. His eyes were glued to the door, which was shaking as if it was going to fall from its hinge. Someone had just knocked, or more like punched at it, judging from the force. Stationing himself beside the wooden frame in an instance, Edward grabbed the doorknob with both of his hands, unsure whether to turn it or not.

BOOM

Another knock almost sent Edward falling flat on his back had he not tightened his grip. He gulped, trying vainly to see through the wood to whoever was standing outside. A moment of silence. Then…

"Hello! Is Edward 'ere? I'm the one who's supposed to ter come and get 'im"

Edward let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding. The speaker had a funny way of talking, but so far, he detected no sign of threat from it. At least he could be sure that whoever it was on the other side was not someone he had to worry about. Maybe he was just being paranoid, but somehow, feeling other people getting close without seeing their face first made him jumpy. It was as if it was some kind of instinct that had been drilled into him. And most of those instincts, he found, belonged to a prey hiding from predators. He actually blasted Tom out of the room once when the landlord went in unannounced to check on him. Thankfully that there was no harm done, as the landlord had assured him amidst his endless apologizes. Opening the door tentatively, Edward looked up…

…and he had to immediately clamp down the urge to slam the door shut right in the other man's face.

At the threshold stood a giant figure who had to be twice as tall as a normal man and five times as wide. His face was almost completely hidden behind long tangles of bushy black hair and beard, which just added to his intimidating appearance. Edward found himself frozen in place, gaping at the man's feature. The giant man must have noticed his paralyzed look, for he stepped back and gave what Edward could see as some kind of apologetic smile under his black beard. Having gotten over the initial shock, Edward found out that up close, the stranger didn't look scary at all.

"Sorry if I startled yeh. Dumbledore asked me ter come. I'm Rubeus Hagrid."

Hagrid held out a hand which Edward took and the boy found himself being lifted off the floor in what must have been a handshake.

"You know Dumbledore?"

"Everybody knows Dumbledore. By the way, I'm Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts"

"That's the place that sent me the letter!" Edward said out loud.

"'Course they did. And that's where you'll be learnin'. But we'll have to ter talk later. We haven't had all mornin' ."

"So, got everythin' ready?" Hagrid gave the room behind Edward a look "Yeh all packed up?"

Edward nodded.

"Great! Then let's go. We have lot ter cover today. Harry's waitin' downstairs."

Stooping down to pick up the small bag that contained what little possession he'd got which he placed readily by the door, Edward asked.

"Who's Harry?"

Hagrid's face seemed to light up with excitement and fondness.

"Harry Potter, o' course. Yeh should know him, he's famous. I'm takin' him to ter buy his stuff, just like you. Yeh'll see, he's hard to miss."

Edward still didn't get quite the idea who this "Harry Potter" was, but Hagrid was already walking away, so he had to catch up, jogging to match Hagrid's long footsteps.

* * *

The Leaky Cauldron was usually a pretty quiet place. Sure, it was never empty but asides from daily exchanges and greetings, there had never been much said in this place, as far as Edward could tell. Today, however, something was different. Several feet away from the bar, Edward could see that there was some sort of commotion going on there. A small crowd had gathered and was circling around something in the middle that Edward couldn't make out. Buzz of excited voice filled his ears. Everyone had there hands outstretched and looked quite determined to reach the center. Besides him, Hagrid was wearing a large grin. Making his way toward the crowd, he pushed past several people and tiptoed to see what it was all about.

Shaking hand with everybody and wearing a pretty confused look, a boy about Edward's age was standing there, looking as if he had no idea what was going on despite being in the center of it. He was scrawny, having bright green eyes behind a pair of glasses that looked like they were barely holding together, black hair not quite unlike Edward's own, and clothes four times his size. Spotting Hagrid's huge figure over the other's heads, he gave a relieved smile and an expression that was clearly begging for help. After several unsuccessful attempt, the gamekeeper finally managed to make himself heard and led the boy away from the crowd over to the door to the courtyard, where Edward was standing after finally managed to get back out. Hagrid placed the two boys in front of each other for introduction.

"This," Hagrid pointed to Edward "is Edward Thompson. He'll be joining us today Harry. And Edward," he pointed to the other boy "This 'ere is Harry Potter."

"Hi." Harry gave a timid smile and held out his hand, to which Edward returned the gesture.

"Nice to meet you." Edward said. Harry seemed friendly enough. Now that they are standing face to face, Edward noticed a thin scar on Harry's forehead that shaped like a bolt of lightning. He didn't question it, though.

Hagrid clapped his hands together

"All right, lads. Gotta go, lot ter buy." He ushered the two boys out into the courtyard. Being given a slight push on the shoulder by the gamekeeper, Edward stumbled and knocked head first into a man.

"I'm sorry!" He quickly apologized.

The one he bumped into was a pale young man who was wearing a large turban. He was trembling.

"N-N-No, d-don't worry a-about it" the man stuttered. He quickly grasped Edward's hand before making off. The moment their skin touched, Edward felt something in him recoiled in terror. A nauseous feeling well up inside his stomach, and he walked toward Hagrid while swaying slightly.

"Whoa, yeh okay there Ed?" the gamekeeper looked at him in concern.

The feeling went away as suddenly as it came. Steadying himself, Edward nodded.

"Yea-Yeah, I'm fine."

Taking a look at the direction the young man had gone; Edward could see that he'd already disappeared. He couldn't help but ask himself, just what all that was about.


	6. Chapter 6

**Beta: FlyingLovegood123**

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Edward had learned his way around Diagon Alley by heart but this was the first time he actually got to do any real shopping. Granted, it was fascinating enough just looking through the glass, but being able to touch the goods was still more enjoyable. He didn't have any money to speak of, but Hagrid had informed him that those who had special circumstances such as himself could receive support from school. In this case, the support came in the form of a leather bag full of coins. The gamekeeper had also explained to him how currency in this world worked and judging from the price of most displayed items, the amount he had, though considerably plenty, would only enable him to buy second-hand equipment at best. He wasn't complaining, though. Harry and Hagrid both needed to pay the bank a visit, which meant that he would be left waiting for a while. Stopping before the building of Gringotts (Edward cringed at the sight of a goblin), the gamekeeper instructed him to stand outside the white construction, but having no idea how long this would take, he insisted on buying a few things on his own first.

"Er, tha's fine. If tha's what yeh want." Hagrid said after a moment hesitation "But are yeh sure yeh can go on yer own?"

"I'm fine Hagrid." Edward waved his hand, which was holding the list of required equipment "It's all in here. And I know my way around."

"Then," Hagrid looked toward Harry, who was already in the bank "get what yeh need. We'll be waitin' for yeh at Ollivanders, 'alrigh'?"

"Yes." Edward nodded eagerly.

And he took off as soon as Hagrid disappeared behind the bronze doors. Edward took another look at the list and checked his money bag again to make sure that he divided the coins smartly. Scales, cauldrons, telescopes… Edward managed to find one of each that even though they looked quite old, they were well in working order. The Apothecary gave off a horrible smell, but somehow there was a bit of familiarity in it. He bought a second-handed robe that was patchy in several places, plus it was a little large, but it would do. Dragging himself around Diagon Alley while being weighed down with an increasing number of heavy bags, Edward wondered whether if his two companions had arrived at the wand shop yet. He would have to pass on the pet. There was no actual need for one. Besides, the money was almost used up. He still had enough for a new wand, though. Edward had actually passed the wand shop many times, but there wasn't anything so extraordinary about it, just a shabby old place with nothing but boxes. Steering himself in the direction, Edward had to stop and catch his breath several times since his mountain of equipment was so heavy. Giving it a quick glare of exasperation, Edward sighed and began to pick up the bags. He gasped in surprise. What had seemed to weigh a ton just seconds ago had now became as light as feather. But before he could contemplate the reason, the sight of Ollivander's dusty shop window erased it from his mind and he rushed forward. He could just make out Hagrid's silhouette from behind the glass. Tentatively pushing the door open, he stepped inside. A tinkling of a bell rang somewhere in the shop. Surrounded him were piles of narrow boxes that went right up to the ceiling. Harry was already standing in there with an old man whom Edward figured to be the shop owner, Ollivander. He looked so pale he could almost be glowing. Hagrid was sitting on a chair and the moment he saw Edward walked in, he waved.

"Ah, there yeh are. Come over 'ere. Jus' wait a bit, Harry's getting' his 'is wand."

There was a high pile of what looked like wooden sticks next to Harry that was still growing higher as they spoke. They must be the wands Hagrid was talking about. Ollivander kept taking one after another out of the boxes and handed it to Harry, who barely held it for a few seconds before it was snatched out of his hand. Feeling a little bored, Edward went out of the building and started an aimless walk on the street but still stayed near enough for Hagrid to be able to see him. It was quite a while later that the gamekeeper got up and signaled him to come in.

"Good afternoon." Ollivander said pleasantly. He gestured Edward to stand next to him "You must be new here."

It wasn't a question.

"Eh…yes?"

The man surveyed him with his misty eyes as he measured him with a tape measure. It was a little eerie.

"What's your name?"

"It's Edward Thompson, sir."

The tape measure was doing the job on it own.

"The wand chooses its wizard. Each wand is unique. I dare say you won't find two wands that are same."

Ollivander took down a stack of box from the shelves. A wave from his hand and the tape measure fell down onto the floor. He handed Edward a wand.

"Here, try this. Maple and dragon heartstring. Ten inches, nice and flexible. Give it a wave."

He did. The wand instantly shot out of his hand and buried itself into the opposite wall.

Ollivander handed him another one.

They quickly found out a problem. Instead of being motionless like when Harry tried them, whenever a wand went into Edward's hand, some violent reaction happened. Five minutes into it and Ollivander had got a shattered window, a broken chair and a few boxes, thankfully empty, burned into ash.

The shop owner was looking quite puzzled.

"Strange. Nothing like this ever happened before."

Edward, though not quite clear about the reason, thought that he might have an idea what was happening. The moment he held those wands, something inside him stirred and squirmed, like it didn't like being contained and thus, lashed out. It was an uncomfortable sensation. He wasn't able to grasp exactly what the feeling was, but it was there, writhing and sending out explosions. At this rate, the already run-down shop would be torn apart. Ollivander, though looking a bit stricken, was still patiently taking out new wands for him to try. Edward didn't want to create any trouble for himself and Hagrid. Moreover, he just wanted to get out of here quickly. That was why, when the next wand came in contact, he tried to clamp that something down only to be met with instant, violent protest. Raw energy seemed to be spilling out of him and the whole wand went ablaze. He only managed to drop it in surprise before the thing started to shoot small fire bolts until the wand itself was reduced to black charcoal. Hagrid had to stand up and put out the little fire that had caught his coat and Harry was stamping on the now charred box at the bottom of a pile and successfully prevented the stack from going down in flame. Edward was really in a panic.

"I'm…I'm…sorry." He stuttered, his fingers twisting together nervously, conscious that three pairs of eyes were on him. Forget about wand. Did he really need one? At that moment all he longed for was to rush for the door.

"It's all right." said Ollivander as he handed him another wand, though Edward noticed the shaky voice and the fact that the old man looked considerably more cautious as he passed the object over. This time Edward didn't take it immediately. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to suppress the strange force before-hand. It was there, he could feel it. He had to control it. Upon touching the wand, he could sense something running along the length of his arm and toward his hand. The wand began to grow hot. He struggled with the energy he was giving out and forced it back in. When there was no sound that indicated something have happened, he opened his eyes just a little and squinted at the wand to see that its tip was glowing.

"Well, I think we found your wand." Ollivander took it from Edward hand, wrapped it in brown paper and Edward sighed in relief. It was willow and unicorn hair, eight inches. The shop owner made no comment about the strange occurrences and Edward was grateful. He didn't want inquiry about something he didn't understand himself. He paid seven Galleons for the new wand and followed Hagrid and Harry out of the shop. The other boy was being strangely quiet and he had a troubled look on his face, but Edward didn't really want to inquire. They hadn't known each other that well yet. The gamekeeper was carrying all of their packages. As they finally entered the Leaky Cauldron again, Hagrid sat down at a table and gestured for them to do the same.

"Ah, Ed. I think it's time we talk about yer new accommodation."


	7. Chapter 7

**Beta: FlyingLovegood123**

* * *

"You are joking, right?"

The question that escaped Harry's lips sounded more like a plead, for he'd just heard one of the most absurd, most ridiculous sentences ever spoken.

"Sorry Harry, but it's been decided. You'll jus' have to put up with it." Hagrid told the boy with an apologetic look on his face.

"You're asking me to put up with it?" Harry was on his feet without realizing it, his arm waving frantically in Edward direction, his voice rising slightly "You should be asking him! You've no idea what those people are like!"

Edward was currently watching the heated exchange with a puzzled expression. Although he was the subject of the argument, he had absolutely no idea what the problem was and so far had been unable to take part in the conversation. The two sitting with him were discussing where he would stay until the term began. Despite Hagrid's statement that the solution to the matter was already fixed and that he was telling them just for the sake of it, Harry was obviously having serious issue with Edward's new lodging.

It was Harry's place.

"Relax, it'll only be fer a short while." Hagrid placed his hand on Harry's shoulder in a reassuring manner.

"You don't know what you're talking about." Harry grumbled, though he sat back in his chair.

"Hello?" Edward waved his hand in front of him to make sure the others were still aware of his existence at the table "Anyone minds telling me what's going on?"

At Harry's first lines of protests, Edward had thought that the problem lied at him, but clearly he was wrong, judging by the way the conversation was going. Harry didn't seem like he was annoyed that someone would be intruding his house, rather, the exact interpretation of his expression at the moment would be horrified. And, from what Edward gathered, wherever Harry was staying, he had a really bad feeling about it. The other boy turned to stare at him with a bemused look before opening his mouth.

"I'm living with my aunt and uncle and they…uh… don't exactly have a sense of hospitality."

"They're Muggles. Non-magical people, see." Hagrid said

"And they fear magic, too." Harry added

"Is having magic a bad thing?" Edward couldn't help but asked.

"No, it's got nothing to do with that." Harry shook his head "It's just the way my aunt and uncle are. They're terrified of anything that's different from their idea of being normal."

"Why do I have to go there?" Edward inquired the gamekeeper. Harry also regarded Hagrid with an expectant face, awaiting an answer. Hagrid stroke his beard thoughtfully.

"The Headmaster is workin' on it, but we're still unable to find any information related to yeh. For now, the most important thing is for yeh to adapt as quickly as possible. That's why Dumbledore thought it would be better if you could stay with someone yer age, someone with magic."

Now it was Harry's turn to be puzzled. He turned to Edward.

"What does he mean?"

Edward swallowed. It was still an uncomfortable topic for him to talk about.

"I…can't remember anything from before."

And he explained how he woke up on that rainy day without even a single memory to recall. Even now, he was still unable to remember anything. Diagon Alley was about all he knew.

"I see…" Harry said in a small voice. There was a long silence that followed, broken by Hagrid standing up and gathered the packages.

"Well, we have to go boys. There're still some arrangements to make."

"Let's hope the Dursleys don't traumatize him further." Harry mumbled before following Hagrid. Then suddenly he stopped in his track, having remembered something important.

"But Hagrid, how are we going to persuade them?"

At his words, Hagrid cracked a smile.

"I think they would prefer to cooperate to their son having a pig snout. It would go so well with the tail, though." He winked at Harry, who was picturing the image in his mind eye. It wouldn't be that much of a change, but still a tempting and amusing sight to see.

* * *

The Dursleys' reaction was more or less what Harry had already expected. They had returned to the house that was still full of letters. The brown envelopes were actually spilling out onto the doorsteps the moment they open the door. Aunt Petunia, who was standing right behind it, let out a tiny squeak as she caught sight of them and made for the living room, screaming for Uncle Vernon as she went. Said man came running, a hammer in one hand and a bunch of nails in the other. It looked like he was in the middle of removing the barricade he had set up the days before. His eyes widened comically when he saw them and he backed away several steps, his skin gone milky white in a few seconds and he held his hammer out protectively in front of him, the tip pointing at Hagrid's figure. Clearly he hadn't quite recovered from the shock from last night. Harry doubted that his uncle would forget that experience any time soon. It seemed he hadn't expected Harry to be accompanied by the giant on his return. Unable to let out any coherent sentence, he just stuttered.

"You…you…"

"Ah, there yeh are Dursley. I believe we have somethin' to discuss." Hagrid said with a cheerful voice. He turned around and pushed Edward, who was standing behind the two of them and hidden by Hagrid's enormous body, to the front.

"This boy here'll be staying with Harry until their school starts."

Harry watched as his uncle face changed from white to pale green as he comprehended Hagrid's words and a shade of red when he finally understood them. Then, with a courage fueled by anger, he thrown the hammer aside and faced Hagrid with his full height, his face held high in an attempt to be intimidating. But naturally, when the one facing him is twice as tall as he was, this didn't count for much. Then, he pointed his finger at Edward and nearly shouted.

"WHY must I let HIM into MY HOUSE?"

Hagrid still remained calm.

"The school will cover the expense of his stay. All yeh have to do is to put him up for a few weeks until Hogwarts starts."

"I will NOT tolerate ANY more of this NONSENSE under this ROOF!" roared Vernon.

Hagrid looked down at the two boys and told them to wait for a moment before turning his eyes back to the other man. He grabbed his umbrella, pointing it at Vernon and drove him into the living room. Finally, after about ten minutes of commotion that consisted of shouting, screaming and what sounded like something exploding, Hagrid triumphed and Vernon came out shaking from head to toes and barked at Harry and Edward to go to Harry's room. Grinning widely, Harry led Edward up the stair and looked back over his shoulder to see Hagrid giving him the thumb-up. He had been dreading coming back to this place since morning, but now it looked like it would not be so bad after all.


	8. Chapter 8

**Beta: FlyingLovegood123**

* * *

Life at number four, Privet Drive was going pretty normally. Yep. An exemplary typical family with absolutely nothing out of ordinary - that is, if one didn't include the fact that there were two boys currently huddled in a room of the house, going through their school books. Nothing was abnormal in and of itself about that, of course, but the books were not ordinary school books, they were full of spells and instructions on magic.

Harry Potter was having the time of his life. School year was drawing closer and soon he would be far, far away from this house as well as its occupants. The sheer thought made him feel all excited. Finding out that he was a wizard was probably the best thing that had ever happened to him. He had never imagined that he could one day escape this place. For the first few days after his visit to the Diagon Alley, he had had trouble believing it was real, and he had dreaded waking up in his dark cupboard and realizing it was all just a dream. But when he knew he wasn't dreaming, his heart swelled with happiness. Nothing could possibly dampen his mood now, not even the worst punishment the Dursleys had used on him during his eleven years spent here. He wouldn't even mind being on the receiving end of one of Uncle Vernon's shouting match. Not that he would get one these days. The people living in this house seemed to have taken it upon themselves to play a pretend game where his existence here was just a figment of their imagination. They walked past without even giving him a glance, ignored his voice as if it was just the wind. Whenever he appeared in their line of vision, they determinedly acted like he was part of the wall and turned to the other direction. Only Dudley gave some sort of reactions, which included squealing loudly and ran out of a room whenever Harry entered it. Had it been any other person, this would have been a rather depressing treatment. For Harry though, it was quite an improvement. The Dursleys could go on ignoring him for the rest of their lives for all Harry cared. It wouldn't bother him, because he had one person to keep him company now. It was the first time he had a friend his age, and the one in question was sitting next to him, poring over a book titled "One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi".

"Strange…" said Edward, lifting his head from the pages "I've seen most of these herbs before."

"Really?" Harry looked up from his own copy of "Magical Drafts and Potions"

"You've read this before?"

"No, I don't think so. And I only recognize their medical properties." He put the book down and stretched his arms and shoulders "Anyways, I've had enough of reading. I'd rather try out a few spells."

"But we don't have our wands. The books said we can't really use our magic without them." Harry exclaimed. They were allowed all of their possession in Harry's bedroom, except their wands. Vernon Dursley had decided to lock them away in the storage. He seemed to think that the act would minimize the damage should anything funny happen. He had even worn gloves for good measure when he snatched their wands for fear that they would burn him or turn him into a toad.

"Seriously?" Edward seemed genuinely surprised "But look, I can do this."

He turned his gaze to the book lying beside him and as if grabbed by an invisible hand, it floated up into the air and made its ways to the table. Harry gasped

"How did you do that?"

"I don't know, I just think about it and it happens. See." Edward sent some other objects flying for demonstration. Harry stared in wonder at the sight. He then turned his eyes to the nearest thing to him, a sock, and tried to will it to fly. Nothing happened.

"I can't do it!" He said

The other boy stopped making things dance in the air and let them fall back to their places. He looked puzzled.

"But you only have to think of the object moving. It's easy."

Harry tried once more time, his whole attention turned to the socks and he imagined it slowly taking off. He gave the image all of his concentration, but the sock stubbornly remained stock still. He gave up with a sigh after two minutes. He wondered why Edward was able to do it but he himself couldn't. Was it because his magic was weaker than normal wizards? Perhaps moving things without wand was normal for most wizards and he was the abnormal one. He didn't know much about the standard of the magic world. But if judging by the standard of Muggles, then he was certain that Edward was the strange one. They had to share a room, of course, not that Harry was complaining, but the closer Harry got to him, the more out of place Edward seemed to be to him, as if he belonged in a completely different era. The first days of his stay, he looked like someone who had never seen the light of day. Harry managed to exhaust himself just explaining how the devices in the house work to his new friend, from the television to his ball point pen. He didn't understand much about amnesia, but he really doubt it could make a person forget as much as Edward, who even commented that the road and the houses appeared unfamiliar.

But memory problem aside, Edward was a decent and fascinating person. He knew how to listen to other and even though he had little to add, he always managed to make Harry feel better when he talk to him. It was a nice feeling, having someone to share your problems with. Edward also seemed to have taken a liking to chores. Even though they didn't have to do any since the Dursley didn't have the nerves to force them to, Edward still handled all the cleaning he could get his hand on. When asked by Harry, he just said that it just felt right to him and Harry had left it at that. He got the same treatment as Harry, which was being regarded as a ghost and was initially disturbed, but eventually got used to it. The food that Aunt Petunia left for them at the table was about the only sign that the two of them were in the house. Their ration was about the same as Harry had always received, which was meager and it made Harry doubt that the money Hogwart paid for Edward's stay was all used for its intended purpose, not that either of them really cared. But Harry noticed that the Dursley seemed more terrified of Edward more than they were of him. Maybe it was because he was a stranger that they knew nothing about and also because he was more at ease with his magic than Harry was. Harry had only ever been able to make strange things happen when he was extremely scared or excited. Edward, on the other hand, was different. Just as he levitated the things in Harry's bedroom, he could use magic whenever he wanted to. After he made the remnant of the teacup Harry had accidently dropped (neither Vernon nor Petunia yelled at him, to his amazement) disappear without a trace, his relatives had avoided the boy at all cost. And Harry had to admit, even though he was glad for the companionship, Edward was really somewhat of a mystery.


	9. Chapter 9

**Beta: FlyingLovegood123**

* * *

"So, how come you have to stay with your aunt and uncle?"

Harry sighed when he heard the question. It was natural that Edward would be curious about that and he was actually surprised that the other boy hadn't mentioned the topic until now. However, knowing that didn't make him feel anymore comfortable about this particular discussion.

"The Dursleys are my only relatives. My parents…" he swallowed with difficulty "they are dead…murdered."

The atmosphere suddenly became unbearably heavy with tension and a dead silence followed his sentence. Edward lamented his thoughtlessness; he looked extremely guilty for bringing this up. He opened his mouth, trying to find some comforting words to say to his new friend but halted when he couldn't come up with any, instead settled on a simple, whispered "Sorry."

"It's okay, I don't even remember them." Harry wrapped his arms around his legs and rested his chin on his knees "Wish I had, though."

He had intended to just stop there. But he had bottled up his worries for too long and hadn't had any chance to actually share them with anyone, and they were bugging him to no end. He wanted to talk to Hagrid, but the gamekeeper was probably miles away. So even though Edward might not actually understand anything he said, Harry still needed to let it all out.

"I'm really not sure about going to Hogwart." He mumbled, just loud enough for Edward to hear.

"But why? I thought you wanted to get out of here?"

"Of course I do! I was ecstatic when I discover I'm a wizard. But…"

"But…?" Edward inquired.

"Everyone I met in Diagon Alley think I'm someone special." Harry stared at the floor, recalling every person he encountered in that place "Like I've done something really great or something."

Edward was searching through his own memories. A flash back of the Rusty Cauldron with Harry surrounded by a large crowd, shaking one hand after another surfaced in his mind.

"Yeah, about that. You said you only knew about your magic recently, so how come you seem famous in the magic world?"

Harry looked up at Edward and was reminded that he went to buy his things separately from Hagrid and himself, so he missed out a lot of their conversations. Taking a deep breath, Harry repeated Hagrid's story about Voldemort, his parents' death and his miraculous survival.

"…and now they all look at me like I'm their savior. But I don't actually know anything about that night. All I've got is this." He pushed back his bang, revealing his lightning-shaped scar "They expect me to be extraordinary. How am I supposed to live up to that?" He fell back into silence.

"Well, at least you know who you are." Edward leaned against the bed, his eyes sad and unseeing "I've tried so hard to recall something, anything. But I've got nothing. It's like I didn't exist before."

Harry looked over at Edward and felt his own frustration ebb away. While they both had their situation, at least he had something solid to cling onto. He knew the other boy desperately wanted to remember his past, but after a certain event several days ago, he wasn't sure if Edward wasn't better off forgetting.

* * *

"_Hey Harry, do you have any spare clothes?"_

_Harry watched as Edward entered the room, the front of his shirt covered in white paint. Deciding mentally not to ask what happened, Harry pointed to his small wardrobe._

"_There are some clean ones, but they are all Dudley-sized. I think they'd even fit a small elephant."_

"_But this is my last shirt." Edward let out a sigh "Beggars can't be choosers, I guess."_

_He rummaged through the piles of clothes for something appropriate, but was finally forced to resign to the fact that they would be baggy even for an elephant. But he needed to change, so in the end he just picked a random shirt and pulled his own off over his head. Harry watched the movement out of the corner of his eyes…_

…_and he gaped at what he saw. Edward's back, which was now visible, was covered in scars, in different sizes and shapes. Lines crisscrossed his pale skin, some was just scratches that had almost faded, but some others looked like remains of gashes which must have been really serious injuries. Some of them seemed to have come from a whip, but the remaining majority was made by something sharp, like a dagger or a knife. One particularly deep scar looked like the result of someone trying to cut him in half. The most horrible sight was a large puncture wound that had healed, yet still left a visible mark of dead flesh that was surrounded by dark bruises. Noticing Harry's gasp, Edward turned around, revealing his front, which was just as badly marred. Standing out the most was a large patch of charred skin in the center of his chest that seemed to be a burn. It looked several years old, but that by no means made the wound appearance any more pleasant to the eyes. Just imagining how painful it must have been when the burn was inflicted made Harry shudder. Seeing Harry's astonished face, Edward followed his gaze and immediately spotted what he was looking at. Feeling color rose to his cheeks, Edward hastily put on the new shirt, conscious that Harry's eyes were still glued on him. Harry stammered, struggled to say the words._

"_You…how…how did you get those scars?"_

_Edward shrugged, and tried to speak as nonchalantly as possible._

"_I don't have any memory, remember?"_

_Harry was reeling by what he saw. Did someone do this to Edward? How can you do that to a person? Sure, he had always had it rough at the Dursleys, but they had never resorted to physical means that would leave marks on his body, not even Uncle Vernon, who was extremely short-tempered. He suddenly found himself really troubled by Edward's origin, because judging from what he seen, the boy was lucky to even be alive. _

_Feeling uncomfortable, Edward stooped down to pick up his stained shirt and made his way out of the room, but was tripped by the extremely long piece of fabric he was wearing. _

"_Oh, for the love of…" he tried to get up, but the sleeves were tangling him. Frustrated, he glared at them and the shirt began to shrink until it was about one-thirds its original size._

"_There, that fits nicely." He dusted himself off and opened the door._

* * *

Neither of them had mentioned anything about that incident, but Harry still wondered what kind of life Edward had led. If those scars were the kind of mistreatment Edward received, then this house seemed like a paradise in comparison. Looking around the room to try and take his mind off the depressing subject, his eyes landed on the calendar. He stood up, took out his pen and crossed out another day on it.

"Only a week left." He remarked.

"Well then, in the mean time," Edward gave a mischievous grin "want to try giving Dudley that snout ourselves?"

Harry laughed. Of course, they would never do it for real, but there was nothing wrong with entertaining the idea.


	10. Chapter 10

**Beta: FlyingLovegood123**

* * *

The long awaited day had finally started. It was the first day of September, as Harry had repeatedly reminded himself the day before while staring at the calendar, checking the date again and again to make sure he hadn't gotten it wrong. Hedwig, Harry's new snowy owl, had returned three days ago after having been on a particularly long hunting trip and was now sitting securely in her cage, seemingly aware somehow of their upcoming departure. He had packed his school things along with Edward yesterday evening and Harry had to marvel at how the other boy managed to sort out everything they needed out of the chaos they created in the room and got all in order in a mere fifteen minutes. They needed their wands back, something that until Harry reminded him, Uncle Vernon had conveniently ignored, who then saw it fit to claim that he forgot where the key to the storage was and watched the boy's troubled face with malicious glee until Edward moved forwards the locked door and literally opened it magically. Needless to say, Vernon's expression at that moment nearly made Harry doubled over with mirth, though he managed to hold it in. The man had scurried off immediately while muttering words like "freaks" or "nonsense in my house". The two young wizards were so very excited that they woke up early that morning and couldn't settle down. The train tickets were safely in their pockets, they sat at the kitchen table, waiting for the Dursleys while helping themselves to breakfast. They had managed to coax Vernon into giving them a ride to King's Cross station, and although he accepted with a grimace, Harry suspected that on the inside, his uncle was extremely delighted at the idea of finally having the chance to get rid of them. Their conversations lately had been largely consisted of one liner, and Harry didn't really want to get on his uncle's nerve so early in the morning, so he quietly waited for his relatives to finish their food and proceeded to load his trunk into the car, followed by Edward. He had trouble lifting the trunk, the thing almost went crashing down on him and he was forced to drop it down, then he turned his head to the side and saw that the other boy finished the task with one hand, and his trunk's content was just about the same as Harry's

"How are you doing that?" Harry exclaimed, his self-esteem just got considerably lowered.

"Hnn?" Edward turned and saw his friend's predicament "Oh. Here." He held hid hand over Harry's trunk and Harry, who was in the midst of pulling it up with all his might, nearly threw it over his shoulder when the weight disappeared.

"You know," Harry said, rubbing his shoulder "somehow I think that you don't need to go to Hogwarts at all."

There you have it. An uneventful morning, followed with an uneventful ride. It wasn't until the two boys were dropped at King's Cross in a hasty manner as if Vernon was afraid of being seen with them did Harry found out about their problem. He had never actually gone to anywhere so far from the Dursleys' house before, except Diagon Alley, and then he had had a guide. At the moment, he was with a boy who knew even less than he did, who was currently gawking around curiously. Moreover, quite many pairs of eyes were on them, or to be more specific, on Hedwig. It wouldn't have been such a big issue if they had been able to find the train. However, when the two of them went along with the stream of people and made their way over to the platforms, Harry stopped dead and the feeling that something had finally gone wrong settled itself in the pit of his stomach. Facing him were two platforms, one with a number nine and the other with number ten. Unfortunately, none matched the number on his ticket, which said clearly nine and three-quarters and remained so even though he had reread it about a dozen times. He looked back at Edward, who was looking at Harry expectantly and waiting for him to take the lead. He sighed. The lead to where? A place for lost kids? He glanced at the large clock over the arrival board and it sent him into panic. Ten more minutes and the above option might just as well be their destination. They were stranded here, Vernon had drove off, and neither of them had any Muggle money. Edward, being unfamiliar with everything, didn't realize the tight spot they were in.

"Harry, why are we stopping?" He asked with a puzzled face.

Harry, who was having difficulty clamping down the desire to run around in hysteria, tried to remain composed as he explained.

"These are the places where people get on the train." Harry pointed at the platforms "We need to find the one that has the same number as our tickets."

"So what's the problem?"

"Well," Harry gestured to their surrounding and shrugged "unless you see one with number nine and three-quarters around here, then we are in deep trouble."

Edward took a look at his ticket. His eyes widened.

"Did…did we come to the wrong place?"

"For our sake, let's hope not." He strode off to ask a guard about the train that departed at eleven, but he was sent away just as clueless as before. Just when he was about to get desperate…

"Hey! I found something!" Edward's voice rang over, and Harry whirled around to see his companion standing at the barrier between the two platforms, waving at him.

"What is it?" Harry went over.

"I felt something beyond this." He pointed at the barrier. Harry stared at it. It looked solid.

"Are you sure?" Harry asked with obvious hint of doubt.

"Yeah. I think we are supposed to go through it."

"You think?" Harry could hear his own voice rising.

"We don't have the time." Edward said, pointing at the clock to emphasize the urgency "Let's go."

He grabbed the handle of his trolley and before Harry could stop him, ran towards the barrier, all the while bracing himself for the crash. He really did felt something beyond the barrier, but that was no guarantee that his guess was right. Anyways, he wouldn't be able to stop. The cart made contact…

Harry opened his eyes. He had closed them when Edward was several inches away from the barrier, expecting the boy to be bounced off. Instead, he had vanished. Harry was astonished, yet he didn't really have the time to be standing here to figure it out. He took hold of his own trolley and ran. Of course, there was no crash and moments later he found himself on a large platform packed with people, a scarlet steam engine waiting. A sign overhead said Hogwarts Express, eleven o'clock. Behind him stood an archway with the words "Platform Nine and Three-Quarters" on it in place of the barrier. A hand suddenly grabbed his arm and Harry turned around to see Edward's grinning face.

"See? I told you so." He said triumphantly.


	11. Chapter 11

**Beta: FlyingLovegood (I added something later so there might still be some mistakes)**

**A note before you read: Some details in this chapter may make it seem like there's reincarnation, but there isn't. Everything's just Merlin's memory acting up. He's not going to get it back anytime soon, though.**

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The platform was packed with people just like with the two platforms at the back that could no longer be seen. Yet the differences were significant. Most of the adults here dressed in robes, the same as the ones Edward had stashed away in his trunk. Their luggage could also easily be distinguished from that of the Muggles', what with the cages that contained owls and cats of all different colors. Most of the compartments were already full of students, many of whom were leaning out of their windows to talk to their families. Edward and Harry made their way along the length of the train, finally spotting an empty compartment towards the end. They shove their trunks in first through the train door and Harry climbed on after. He turned around and held out his hand, ready to pull Edward up when…

"Hey! Where are you going?"

Edward didn't answer him, nor did he turn back. The moment he was about to grasp Harry's hand, he caught a fleeting glimpse of someone passing behind him. Blond hair. Suddenly, as if struck by lightning, his body was paralyzed and he couldn't move. Thousands of images were flooding his mind, flashbacks from his forgotten past. A face that clearly showed annoyance, brows raised in exasperation, yet the pair of blue eyes beneath was full of affection. A huge room waiting to be cleaned, its size equaled its messiness. A thrown jug hitting the wall, missing its mark by several inches, yet mixed in the clanging sound that followed was laughter. Those memories went as quickly as they came, leaving nothing behind but an empty space. Edward desperately tried to recall them, but they slipped from his mind like water from cupped hands. Then, before he knew it, he had turned away from his companion and started chasing after that someone, ignoring Harry's call. He roughly pushed the people in his way aside; his eyes focused only on one spot ahead, his arm outstretched. Only a little bit more. Leaning his body forward, he jumped the last few steps. His hand made contact. He watched, as if in slow motion, as the person turned around to look at him.

… And he was immediately pulled back to earth. Staring at him was a boy with a pale, pointed face, wearing a wizard robe. He had an air of pure haughtiness about him and of course, nothing about this strange boy was even remotely familiar to Edward.

"What are you doing?" he spat, swiping Edward's hand away from his shoulder.

"I'm sorry," Edward apologized "I thought you were someone I knew."

The boy took a step back away from Edward and his gaze seemed to have come to a rest on Edward's clothes. He wiped the hand that had touched Edward's on his robe and pursed his lips in disgust.

"Your eyes must be bad then, because there is no way someone like me could be caught near the like of you."

Having thrown those words in Edward's face, the boy strode away, leaving Edward dumbfounded on the platform. Shaking his head to regain some sense, he walked back to where Harry was, completely unable to comprehend why he had even chased that boy in the first place. As soon as he placed his foot in the compartment, the train started to move. He can see the back of Harry's head from where he was standing and on the opposite sit sat a boy with red hair. He made his way over and settled down in the space on Harry's left. His friend had looked up when he came into sight.

"Where were you?" Harry inquired

"I thought I saw something." Edward shrugged. He turned his attention to the red-haired boy who was looking at him curiously and put on the friendliest smile he could muster "Hi, I'm Edward Thompson."

The boy nodded "I'm Ron Weasley. Nice to meet you." He then gave Harry a glance "You know each other?"

"Yeah." Harry confirmed "We stayed together for a short while."

"Really?" The boy had turned his eyes back on Edward with enthusiasm "You got to stay with Harry Potter?"

"Eh, yes?" Edward answered, feeling a little confused at Ron's attitude.

"That's so cool! I mean, Harry's the most famous person in the magic world." Ron pointed at Harry, who Harry could see turning into a bright shade of red "And you got to stay with him!"

"Oh." Edward had completely forgotten that Harry was famous here. Being at the Dursley's where your very existence was ignored kind of erased the notion from his mind.

"Are all of yours family wizards?" Said Harry in an attempt to drive attention away from himself.

"I think so. I've got five brothers who went to Hogwarts before me."

"You must know a lot of magic then." Edward said in wonder.

"Not really. I haven't really been able to make any spell work, and most of them came from Fred and George so I doubt they are even spells at all. They just love to joke around with me."

Ron launched into a detailed description of some of the jokes that his twin brother had found highly amusing and him being the victim. The two other listened on earnestly, but Harry still had something on his mind. The mention of spells made Harry remember something he needed to make sure.

"Ron, can I ask you something?"

"What is it?" Ron stopped mid-story.

"Can you or your brothers use magic intentionally without a wand?"

"Magic like what?" Ron asked

"I don't know." Harry shrugged "Making thing fly or disappear, perhaps."

Edward turned to look at Harry.

"Nah," Ron shook his head "wandless magic is very advanced. If someone manages to do magic without wand, it's mostly on instinct. I can't make things fly even with my wand." He pulled out a battered wand from his pocket.

"I see." Harry sighed in relief. So it wasn't just him, after all. On the other hand, Edward's worries had just doubled.

"But why do you ask?" Ron's eyes then widened "You can do wandless magic?" he asked with awe in his voice.

"No, but Edward can."

Ron turned his gaze to Edward. The latter tangled his fingers nervously, but he was saved from having to answer by a clattering outside their door, which slid back to reveal a cart followed by a dimpled woman. She smiled at them.

"Anything of the cart, dear?"

Edward dug into his pocket and, feeling nothing asides from the mysterious orb which he had decided to carry around with him and of course, no money, so he just leaned back further in his seat. Ron blushed and mumbled something about having sandwich. Harry, however, leaped to his feet and came back moments later with candies laden in his arms, which he spread over the table when he reached it, making the other two stare.

"You're gonna eat all that?" Ron asked.

"I'm hungry." Harry just shrugged. He looked around at his two companions and handed each a Licorice Wand "Come on, you two help yourselves."

"My mom made me sandwiches." Ron shook his head. Then he dropped his voice just enough for himself to hear "Not really what I like, though."

"Go on, I insist." Harry said, still holding the candy to Ron, who finally took it after some reluctance. The three began to work their way through the small mount of sweets. Harry smiled inwardly. This was the first time he was actually able to share something, having had nothing and no one to share it with before.

"What card does it have?" Ron said as he saw Edward unwrap a Chocolate Frog.

"Eh?" Edward eyed Ron with confusion, but at that moment his hand hit something that indeed felt like a card, so he pulled it out.

"Chocolate Frogs have cards of famous witches and wizard inside them." Ron began to explain "I'm collecting them."

Edward glanced down at the card in his hand. A woman was looking back at him. She had an extremely beautiful and regal look, but then her face twisted in a sneer and all the above disappeared, leaving only a feeling of insanity. Edward shuddered involuntarily, feeling a chill going up his spine, thus he flipped the card so that the picture side was hidden and handed the card to Ron. Ron took a look at it.

"Morgana. I've got about six of her already. You keep it." He tried to return the card, but Edward shook his head so he put it down on the table instead. For some inexplicable reason, Edward didn't want to lay his eyes on that picture again. Harry was turning his attention away from the exchange when he glimpsed something poking out of Ron's shirt pocket.

"Is that a rat?"

"Oh, yeah. His name is Scabber." Ron pulled the gray rat out and put it on his lap "He just sleeps all day. I tried to turn him yellow yesterday, but the spell didn't work. Well, I guess I should expect that from something George gave me." He picked up the wand he had laid on the side of the table and waved it absent-mindedly, but suddenly stopped mid-way, as if remembering something. He then turned to Edward.

"You can do wandless magic, right?"

Edward sighed. He was hoping Ron would forget that. In a wordless response, he levitated several boxes of sweets on their table some meters into the air and swirled them around

"Wow." Ron gasped at the sight.

At that moment, the door of the compartment slid open and two identical older boys with the same red hair poked their heads in and Edward dropped the boxes in surprise.

"Ron, we're nearly there, so you two had better get ready." Then they caught sight of Edward and came inside.

"Oh, a new face?" the twin grinned "Fred and George Weasley, nice to meet you."

"I'm Edward Thompson." Edward smiled

"Guess we'll be seeing you at school. Hey Ron," the twin turned to their brother "want to see Lee's tarantula?" One of them was holding a box and they winked mischievously

"No! Put it away! Put it away!" Ron was holding his hand in front of himself protectively.

"Thought so." They made their way out of the compartment and waved "Bye, we've gotta run." The door slid shut behind them.

The three of them put on their robe. A voice echoed through the train: "We'll be reaching Hogwarts in five minutes' time. Please leave your luggage on the train, it will be taken to the school separately."

The train slowed down and finally stopped. With one last apprehensive look at each other, Edward and Harry followed Ron down to the tiny dark platform, the first few steps to their new days ahead.


End file.
